Super Bowl 50, Carolina Panthers – Denver Broncos is Finally Here … What are the Best and Worst NFL Franchises in Super Bowl History

Super Bowl 50 is finally upon us that matches the NFC champ Carolina Panthers vs. the AFC champ Denver Broncos. But what NFL franchises are considered the best and worst performers in the biggest game of the NFL season?

Who are the best NFL teams/franchises that consistently found themselves in the biggest game of the year and won it all or at least made a game of it when all thought it would be a blow out or loss?

1. San Francisco 49ers (6 appearances: 5-1). Although the 49ers have not won the big game since the 90′s, they reign among all with their near perfection in the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XXIV San Francisco destroys Denver, 55 – 10

XVI     January 24, 1982 San Francisco 49ers 26 Cincinnati Bengals 21
XIX     January 20, 1985 San Francisco 49ers 38 Miami Dolphins 16
XXIII     January 22, 1989 San Francisco 49ers 20 Cincinnati Bengals 16
XXIV     January 28, 1990 San Francisco 49ers 55 Denver Broncos 10 [So much for that Joe Montana - John Elway match up ... Montana, the best ever!!!]
XXIX     January 29, 1995 San Francisco 49ers 49 San Diego Chargers 26
XLVII     February 3, 2013 Baltimore Ravens 34 San Francisco 49ers 31

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (8 appearances: 6-2). The Steelers have been to a record tying 8 Super Bowls and have a 6 wins and competed strongly in the ones they have lost. They have wins in the 1970′s with the famed Steel Curtain and victories in the 80′s, 90′s and 2000′s.

IX     January 12, 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 Minnesota Vikings 6
X     January 18, 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers 21Dallas Cowboys 17
XIII     January 21, 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers 35 Dallas Cowboys 31
XIV     January 20, 1980 Pittsburgh Steelers 31 Los Angeles Rams 19
XXX     January 28, 1996 Dallas Cowboys 27 Pittsburgh Steelers 17
XL     February 5, 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers 21 Seattle Seahawks 10
XLIII     February 1, 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers 27 Arizona Cardinals 23
XLV     February 6, 2011 Green Bay Packers 31 Pittsburgh Steelers 25

3. Dallas Cowboys (8 appearances: 5-3).

V     January 17, 1971 Baltimore Colts 16 Dallas Cowboys 13 [Also known as the Blooper Bowl]
VI     January 16, 1972 Dallas Cowboys 24 Miami Dolphins 3 [Only Super Bowl with a Defense to never give up a TD]
X     January 18, 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers Dallas Cowboys 17 [Also, one of the truly great games of all times]
XII     January 15, 1978 Dallas Cowboys 27 Denver Broncos 10
XIII     January 21, 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers 35 Dallas Cowboys 31 [Still one of the greatest games ever played, but for a Jackie Smith TD drop, Dallas would have won]
XXVII     January 31, 1993 Dallas Cowboys 52 Buffalo Bills 17 [Cowboys rout Bills and it wasn't even this close]
XXVIII     January 30, 1994 Dallas Cowboys 30 Buffalo Bills 13
XXX     January 28, 1996 Dallas Cowboys Pittsburgh Steelers 17 [Cowboys finally beat Steelers in a Super Bowl]

Tied at 4. The Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants (5 Appearances each and both have a 4-1 record)

Who are the worst NFL teams/franchises that consistently found themselves in the biggest game of the year and came up terribly short.

1. Buffalo Bills (4 appearance: 0-4): The Buffalo Bills found themselves in 4 straight Super Bowls in the early 1990′s where they progressively got hammered worse each year. Their only real chance to win a Super Bowl faded wide right when kicker Scott Norwood missed a potential game winning field goal in XXV.

XXV    January 27, 1991 New York Giants 20 Buffalo Bills 19
XXVI    January 26, 1992 Washington Redskins 37 Buffalo Bills 24 [The game was not even as close as the score as the Redskins built up a 37-10 lead and game was over]
XXVII     January 31, 1993 Dallas Cowboys 52 Buffalo Bills 17 [It was more of a blow out that the score indicated, final score should have been 59-10]
XXVIII     January 30, 1994 Dallas Cowboys 30 Buffalo Bills 13 [Bills folded like a cheap suit in the second half after a Thurmon Thomas fumble and Cowboys ran it down their throats]

2. Denver (8 appearance: 2-5, 1 TBD) The Denver Broncos are making their 8th Super Bowl appearance today; however, other than two games at the end of John Elway’s career, the final game of the season has been nothing but a blow out and disaster for the Broncos. The Denver Broncos were the original Bill’s losing 4 Super Bowls and none of them were close. The Broncos are rated # 2 even though they have won 2 Super Bowls because they have lost a record 5 of them and in some cases by historic margins. Sorry, but Denver’s losses to the Giants, Redskins and especially 49ers and Seattle were nothing but embarrassing.

XII     January 15, 1978 Dallas Cowboys 27 Denver Broncos 10 [Orange Crush crushed by Dallas' Doomsday defense]
XXI     January 25, 1987 New York Giants 39 Denver Broncos 20 [Giant's QB shreds Denver, 22-25 passing]
XXII     January 31, 1988 Washington Redskins 42 Denver Broncos 10 [Redskin's QB Doug Williams rips Denver D for 35 points in second quarter]
XXIV     January 28, 1990 San Francisco 49ers 55 Denver Broncos 10 [Joe Montana shreds Denver D and John Elway]
XXXII     January 25, 1998 Denver Broncos 31 Green Bay Packers 24
XXXIII     January 31, 1999 Denver Broncos 34 Atlanta Falcons 19
XLVIII     February 2, 2014 Seattle Seahawks 43 Denver Broncos 8 [The game was over 7 seconds into the game when Peyton Manning wilted under the big game pressure]

3. Minnesota Vikings: (4 appearances: 0-4) The only thing that saves the Vikings from finishing higher is that they have not been in a Super Bowl since the 1970′s. The Vikings just never really showed up for any of the games.

IV    January 11, 1970 Kansas City Chiefs 23 Minnesota Vikings 7 [This was over from the outset and the famed NFL films of KC coach Hank Stram and 65 toss power trap]
VIII     January 13, 1974 Miami Dolphins 24 Minnesota Vikings 7
IX     January 12, 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 Minnesota Vikings 6
XI     January 9, 1977 Oakland Raiders 32 Minnesota Vikings 14